Chen Chen, a Yellow River corpse retriever, fulfills his grandfather's dying wish and takes up the dangerous work, along with half of a mysterious bone stele. From then on, he is drawn into millennia-old secrets hidden in the depths of the Yellow River. As a newcomer to the trade, he encounters eerie corpses and strange aquatic monsters, gradually uncovering the secrets of the stele. He meets the highly skilled Daoist priest Wang and the loyal Shunzhu, and clashes for the first time with the evil organization Sunken Nether Pavilion, which covets the stele. He comes to understand his grandfather's charge: “When the two steles are joined, the Yellow River will be calm.” Chen Chen ventures into the treacherous stretches of the Yellow River to pursue clues about the stele and unravel the sinister traps laid by Sunken Nether Pavilion. He witnesses strange tales along both banks of the river and gradually discovers the Pavilion's plot to control the yin veins and wreak havoc on the mortal world. He also learns that the bone stele is not unique: another matching stone tablet is scattered somewhere in the world. Chen Chen unexpectedly obtains a second fragment of the bone stele and encounters Su Qingyuan, a descendant of the Su family, becoming entangled in a feud between their families, who have guarded the two steles for generations. The two put aside their differences and fight side by side. While searching for the remaining fragments and the Nether Spring Guide and rescuing Daoist Priest Wang, who is trapped in danger, they battle the bronze-masked men and sinister puppets of Sunken Nether Pavilion, vowing to reunite the two steles, suppress the evil, and protect the Yellow River's peace.
